ACA Archive Collections

The ACA historical music score masters from the 1910s through the 1970s and beyond are at Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland. In addition to the scores, there are composer history files going back to the 1930s, with biographical information, concert notices, publishing histories, text permissions and general correspondence between ACA composers and ACA staff and founders.

With grants from the Amphion Foundation and the Copland Fund for Music, many of the items have been digitally scanned and are available for electronic access on request.

We are seeking additional funding to continue scanning music by such early and mid 20th-century active composers as Bulent Arel, Otto Luening, Ben Weber, Karl and Vally Weigl, Miriam Gideon, Barney Childs, Dane Rudhyar, Robert Helps, Quincy Porter, Daniel Pinkham, Halsey Stevens, Hall Overton, Aaron Avshalomov, Jack Briece, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and many others. In addition, we are striving to engrave as many of these scores as funding will permit, as the modern typeset editions are attractive to new generations of performers.

You can support these efforts by donating to the ACA scanning/engraving fund (all contributions received are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law). Or, you can purchase a copy of a score that has not been scanned, the income from which helps cover costs for the scanning effort. Once scanned, the score masters are returned to the library, Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland, for longterm safekeeping and research accessibility.

Article reprints and full issues from the magazine series ACA Bulletins are now also available upon request for PDF download delivery.

1941 Letter to ACA from CoplandAaron Copland accepts nomination as President of ACA

American composers of the past and present have archival materials on deposit with the American Composers Alliance Archives, at Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland. Access to this collection is by special appointment.